The revelation of not-so-secret secrets
At the muffled sound of keys jangling behind the door to his back, Remus stilled to a stop, hands falling from the handle of his own door. Fight or flight, fight or flight, fight or flight — the dilemma raced through his mind, and eventually, Remus made the conscious decision to be brave; he chose the former, though, it wasn’t even a fight, per se.
It had been something of a habit - avoiding Sirius in the morning - after that first interaction many weeks ago when Sirius had opted to lie rather than share a bus with him. For the weeks that followed, Remus had avoided walking to the bus stop with the other, either by rushing down the stairwell before Sirius could leave his house, or by citing a lame excuse and hiding out in his apartment until Sirius was gone. He was even willing to keep up with the charades until either of their leases terminated, except, the kitten incident had since changed everything between them.
At least, on Remus’ end, it had. Sirius was, to Remus, a whole different person now. Where his first impression of him had been insensitive, sarcastic, and a little bit of a rude nut job, Sirius was now compassionate, humorous, and still just a little bit of a nut job. It was crazy how the two interactions with the other had managed to shift his entire perspective, though Remus did eventually realise that he might have been too quick to judge in the first place.
The door clicked open behind him, and Remus turned around to face him. From what he had gathered over the month as neighbours, James working hours were earlier than both of theirs, and it was only ever Sirius that he would bump into in the mornings. “Morning,” he called, just as Sirius stepped out from his apartment.
Surprised, would be an understatement when Sirius caught sight of him. He was dressed fully in black, with his plain t-shirt tucked neatly into his trousers, and Remus caught a glimpse of the tattoos under his sleeve as he worked the lock. He noticeable startled at the sound of Remus’ voice, looking back in shock as if noticing Remus for the first time since he stepped out of his apartment, before an embarrassed smile slipped across his face. “Morning,” he greeted, tugging at the door to ensure that it was properly locked.
Sirius made his way over to where Remus stood by the stairs, and they began their descent down the four floors. “You’re all set today?” He asked, and the confusion must have been apparent on Remus’ face, because he soon clarified, “Didn’t forget anything, did you?” A smirk found its way onto his lips, and Remus, just for the sake of it, pretended not to notice.
He shrugged his shoulders, looking over at Sirius whose teeth were peeking through the badly suppressed grin. “Right,” he nodded, averting his gaze as Sirius’ jaw dropped. “Got everything I need today.” Remus said, plastering on the most genuine look he could muster. He was fourteen when he was first thrown in front of a camera for a school project, and if he did it then, he could do it now, especially when his social life was dependent upon it.
“Oh, come off it, Lupin!” Sirius nudged him with an elbow, promptly bursting out into laughter when Remus vehemently refused to look back at his direction. “We both know you were avoiding me the past few weeks, you absolute git!”
Remus gasped, and with a dramatic flair he had not quite intended for, threw his palm against his chest. “What in the world are you blabbering about?” His free hand found Sirius’ arm, and despite his tendency for delusion, even he could not convince himself of the sincerity he was gunning for.
“Lupin, my dear,” Sirius wrung himself free from Remus’ grasp, pulling Remus’ wrists together between his own two hands. “You’re embarrassing yourself at this point.” He shook his head with a laugh, “ You once told me you forgot to bring your bottle while it was in your hands. At least when you lied about forgetting your keys, you had the decency to look embarrassed! Seriously, do you take me for an idiot or something?”
At the mention of the key incident, Remus choked back a laughter, pulling his lower lip between his teeth to suppress the grin that threatened to break. He had an inkling that Sirius might have caught on to the key incident, but for the same mishap to happen more than once? He was a bloody idiot, right on. “Fuck,” he groaned, pulling his hands free from Sirius’ grip, as he held the back of a hand against his lips. “I thought I was being subtle,” he said, dropping his hand back to his side while he spoke.
Sirius raised a brow at him and with a quick clearing of his throat, he pulled his keys out from his back pocket, turning away from Remus. Confused, Remus watched as Sirius gave a little hop, shoulder rising to his ears before turning around. He waved at him with the hand holding the keys, and Remus finally caught on, much to his utter humiliation.
“Oh, good morning Sirius! Nice day, innit?” He smiled, sickeningly sweet in an attempt at mockery, and Remus rolled his eyes with a groan; Sirius wasn’t deterred. “Oh good golly, it seems like I have forgotten my keys back home,” he jingled the keys in his hands for emphasis, laughter seeping between his words. “I ought to head back in and find the keys, toodles!”
The exaggerated smile fell into a deadpan as soon as he ended his sentence, and even Remus himself was reduced into a fit of laughter at the silly reenactment. Sirius, too, broke out into a chuckle following him, and Remus nudged him towards the stairs in embarrassment as they descended the final flight to the ground floor.
Their walk towards the bus station was sporadically interjected by fits of laughter, with Remus mocking Sirius’ reenactment of him, and the latter making the situation ten times worse by exaggerating the situation even further. It wasn’t until they arrived at the bus station had the two finally managed to calm down, and oh sweet vengeance, the bus was here. The bus that Remus took to work everyday. The bus that he distinctly saw Sirius alighting from those many weeks ago. The very bus that Sirius insisted he did not take to work. Sweet, sweet vengeance, indeed.
Remus gestured for Sirius to head on aboard the bus before him, and they both clambered between the narrow aisles until they reached an empty row for two. They settled in, Sirius by the window and Remus by the aisles, and as the bus jolted forward in its journey into the city, Remus turned to the other with a sneaky grin; he tapped on his shoulder, “hey, care to know why I was avoiding you?”
Sirius nodded his head hesitantly, his brows furrowing in confusion at the sight of Remus’ sudden excitement, and oh boy, was Remus living for it. “Right, well, do you remember the first time we bumped into each other on the way to work?” Another nod from Sirius, and Remus had never been this excited to retell a story; no wonder Sirius had been so excited just moments ago. “Yeah, and remember how we boarded different buses because you said that the 149 didn’t head to your office?”
The reaction was instantaneous — raised brows and parted lips, all in the name of surprise, and Remus was absolutely living for it. “You’d think I would be surprised that we board the same bus today, but you know what? I’m not,” he paused, eyes catching Sirius’ as his grin grew devilish. “You see, those many weeks ago, two 149 buses arrived at the station by my workplace at the same time, and can you guess who I saw alighting from the bus behind mine?”
“Remus,” Sirius groaned, burying his face into his hands as he averted his gaze from him.
Remus laughed, tugging his hands back down by the wrist and dropping them in his lap to catch his gaze. “No, close actually,” he grinned, revelling in the way Sirius shifted in his seat in discomfort. “It was actually this rude little tosser by the name of Sirius Black! Have you heard of him? I heard he lives in our apartment building, our floor too.”
The rude tosser in question brought his hands back up to his head, burying his face deep into the palms of his hands as Remus shook in laughter by his side. It wasn’t a second longer before Sirius’ own shoulders were shaking in laughter, and it took all of his willpower to keep his voice down. “You were such a fucking wanker for that by the way!” He quipped, between chuckles, and Sirius turned to peek at him through the gaps between his fingers.
“Well, you started it!” He retorted, and Remus scoffed in response. He’d been nothing but pleasant since their first meeting, and he wasn’t about to have it turned on him that easily.
“Oh, how do you figure, genius?”
Sirius opened his mouth, and when words failed, he snapped his jaw shut, crossing his arms over his chest. He tapped an index finger against his arm, and after a moment’s thought, he turned back to Remus with determination in his eyes. “You were just so—,” he unfolded his hands from his chest, brandishing them around in mid-air in a poor mime of something. “You were just so!” He concluded, and well, a scoff was well-deserved, wasn’t it?
“I was just… so?” He clarified, amusement seeping back into his voice as he regarded the other with one raised brow. So, what the fuck did that even mean?
“Exactly,” Sirius nodded, as if that made any sense at all. “You were just so! And it left me with no other choice but to avoid you.” He looked back at Remus, with nothing but sincerity in his eyes, and boy, maybe Remus should be taking acting lessons from him.
“Right, well, thank you for the explanation, Sirius. That makes perfect sense.”
“Yes, you’re welcome.”